U.S. Critical Infrastructure 2025: A Strategic Risk Assessment

“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Office of Cyber and Infrastructure Analysis identified the following trends likely to have a profound effect on critical infrastructure:

Convergence of the Cyber and Physical Domains

Aerial Threats: NTAT (Non-Traditional Aviation Technology)

Evolving Terrorist Threat

Facing the Inevitable: The State of U.S. Infrastructure

Extreme Weather: A Gloomy Forecast

Next Pandemic: Emergence and Outbreak”

Key Findings:

– The expansion of information technology and our reliance on computing have created “immeasurable vulnerabilities and attack vectors”.

– Critical infrastructure is likely to experience elevated levels of cyber attacks going into the future.

– Drones are going to pose a unique threat for which critical infrastructure security is not prepared.

– Cyber terrorist groups are likely to become more sophisticated, which will cause cyber terrorism to proliferate.

– The risk of failure of critical infrastructure is growing because segments are nearing the end of their life span. This is going to affect transportation systems, energy, water and wastewater systems, and dams sectors.